After a brief night at home I’m once again speeding down the East Coast Main line to London and (eventually) Brighton. Weatherwise, it’s a glorious day for travelling, although I have to admit that I’d have been quite happy spending the day at home. Our garden’s really coming into bloom right now, so it would’ve been lovely to sit in the sun with Dawn, the newspapers and a glass of something. Instead i’m enjoying watching some lovely countryside flash by my train window as I head South.

Today’s the first day of a major railway timetable change that affects my route. Every train time across the GTR network (Great Northern, Thameslink and Southern) has changed and no-one is quite sure what to expect. Industry insiders have told me the new timetable was too complex to model. They know their will be failures but they can’t predict where. As I’m spending the next couple of days on Southern and Thameslink services, I’ll blog about my experiences.

On another matter, I’ve had chance to process my thoughts about what I saw around yesterday’s royal wedding. What struck me was just how cosmopolitan the crowds were who went to Windsor to enjoy the spectacle. As I watched them catch their trains from Waterloo I was impressed by the sheer variety of folk making the journey. I’d say the majority were women, but there were plenty of couples too, as well as entire families. They weren’t all dyed-in-the-wool Royalists either, this wasn’t a wall of union jack T-shirts. What fascinated me was how many of the women were dressed as if they really had been invited to a wedding. I wasn’t too surprised about how many Americans were going due to the brides origin, but I was by the number of Japanese and other asian nationals – as well as all the European languages I heard. I can only put it down to the fact most people enjoy fairytales, and the idea of a mixed-race woman marrying her Prince is such a tale. It was a joyous coming together in celebration from people of all creeds, colours and nationalities. After all the shit that Brexit has thrown up, the wedding (albeit briefly) took us back to the heady days of the 2012 London Olympics, when we seemed a bigger, more confident and outward looking nation – such a contrast to what we’ve become now.

15:39.

Well, I’ve managed to catch a Thameslink service to Brighton without a hitch. Within a few minutes of strolling across the road to St Pancras, buying a ticket and disappearing down into the ‘box’ I was boarding the 15:27 which was running to time and formed of a 12 car Class 700. The weather in the capital’s just as stunning as it was up North. As we passed through Blackfriars station I could sèe that the South bank of the river was awash with people enjoying that lovely combination, a day off, sunshine and a fantastic view across the River Thames!

After a night at home I’m heading back to London this morning as I have a job to do early tomorrow that’s not entirely unconnected with a wedding taking place near London. Meanwhile, it’s a bright sunny day and ideal for travelling, so expect a few observations and pictures from my wanderings today. Here’s the first, taken on my walk to the station from a winding cobbled road under the Wainhouse tower. I love this view!

That’s Sowerby Bridge down there. I’m always amazed how green it looks now the trees are in leaf because if you looked at the same view just 50 years ago it would have been denuded of the vast majority of the woodland. This would have been an industrial, not a pastoral view.

10.27

I’m now in Halifax, waiting for the London train after popping into the town’s Borough market to buy breakfast. It’s a lovely Victorian building which has this clock as its centrepiece.

Despite not being as busy as it once was it still has a delightful variety of stalls selling all manner of things.

14.15. I’m now in London after an easy trip down the East Coast with Grand Central. Sadly, it was on one of the class 180s they’ve recently acquired from GWR, not one of their newly refurbished sets which I had the pleasure of travelling in on Wednesday. Here’s how the new Standard Class seats look in 180104;

Here’s looking through a refurbished Standard Class saloon.

A table bay of four showing off the new seat trim and moquette. I rather like the way the exterior orange stripe has been replicated on the inside.

15:00

After taking a short break to organise a new commission on Monday (which involves another overnight in London or Brighton) i’m on the move again, passing through the perpetually busy Liverpool St station.

I’m on my way back to London for a couple of days as I’m covering tomorrow’s annual “Community rail in the city” event. ACoRP staff and community rail partnership workers and volunteers will have a variety of stalls on many of London’s main stations from 7am until 7pm. You can find details here.

It’s a glorious day for travelling. The sun’s shining and the East Coast Main Line’s behaving itself. As a consequence I expect to have a busy afternoon when I arrive – this weather’s a photographic Godsend! First stop will be Euston to get some shots of Hs2 work around the station, so watch out for some pictures shortly…

15:14

As promised, here’s the first pictures. This is one of the new blocks that have been built to rehome people having to move out of nearby homes to make way for Hs2. They’re quite impressive as they look to allow far more natural light in than the blocks they’re replacing. They also have private balconies

Right now, I’m having a late lunch in nearby Drummond St. Understandably, the restaurants here have been concerned that trade will suffer during Hs2 construction due to direct routes to the station being blocked. I’m optimistic that won’t happen and that the influx of hundreds of extra workers to the area may have the opposite effect. Either way they’ll continue to get my business. I wonder how many of those opposing Hs2 have ever done that? Here’s Ravis Shankar’s Tuesday special – a delicious veg Biriyani

Ok, it’s the end of the day – and the blog. It’s been lovely to catch up with an old friend – and old haunts. Now I’m staying in a part of the world that’s still familiar, but only because I’ve been around long enough to see it change!

I’ve become a London commuter for rhe day. Starting off by using ‘Shanks’s pony’ to get to Gipsy Hill station on the first leg of my trip to ExCel in the docklands.

Things have already fallen apart. Due to a points failure at West Croydon the 08:00 Southern service I’d planned to catch has been cancelled and the following 08:12 is delayed for unspicified reasons. Still, I’ve given myself leeway and it’s a beautifully sunny, crisp morning, so let’s see what happens…

08:33.

A 4 car 455 finally arrive to take me one stop down the road to Crystal Palace. I had no problem getting a seat as most passengers were waiting for the following train to take them into the capital.

I always enjoy a visit to Crystal Palace, it’s a huge, labrynthine place whose fortunes have waxed and waned over the years. Now it’s very much on the up as a lot of money’s been spent restoring it and making platforms accessible (it has some mammoth staircases).

As well as having Southern services, nowadays the station’s the terminus of Overground services from Highbury & Islington in North London. I’m using one of them (the 08.36) for my next leg to Canada Water.

14:41

No time for blogging earlier, it’s been a busy day at Infrarail shooting pics of the speakers, networking and catching up with old friends. Here’s Transport Minister Chris Grayling taking questions after his keynote speech.

Now I’m on a Flybe plane from London City airport to Dusseldorf for phase 2. The great thing about flying from here is that the airport was only a 25 minute walk from ExCel!

16:24.

Landed in Dusseldorf after a fascinating flight over London and the port of Rotterdam. You really appreciate its size from the air. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any decent pix, but here’s London from above, showing the Eurostar reception sidings at Temple Mills.

It’s great to be on the move again. Much as I’ve enjoyed my time at home it doesn’t take long before I start getting itchy feet!

I’m currently en-route to London but i’m not quite sure what to expect as the weather forecast seems to be mixed to say the least. It was certainly cold when I left Halifax this morning. Despite the sun making every effort to break through the clouds, a chilly wind dispelled any temptation to think it was summer. I was very happy to see my Grand Central service hove into view so I could settle in a lovely warm coach with a coffee and soak up the scenery on the way. The trees along the lineside have really burst into life in the past week. Leaves are appearing at a rapid rate, which is making the areas Network Rail’s been busy clearing really stand out.

Despite claims in the Guardian newspaper that this has somehow been carried out in secret, it’s hard to miss where dozens of trees have vanished! Then again, the clearences have been such a ‘secret’ Network Rail had posted details on their website – as NR Chairman Sir Peter Hendy pointed out on Twitter!

The imminent arrival of summer’s not just evidenced by trees. As we raced down the East Coast Main Line I noticed dozens of bright yellow fields where the rape seed’s flowering. I can see I’m going to be busy with the camera soon…

Right now my train’s flying along the ECML South of Sandy and the closer we get to London the moodier the skies are becoming, so my photographic plans may have to change…

On the bright side, despite the weather warnings, the ECML’s behaving itself and the “knitting” (as the overhead wires are known by many) is staying firmly in place!

13.35

Now i’m passing Hadley Wood and the sky’s gone from moody to leaden! The only colours are in the PPE of the dozens of Network Rail’s ‘team orange’ that we keep passing every few minutes as they carry out a host of trackside assignments.

14.08.

‘Tis cold and wet in the capital today, so i’ve not moved far from Kings Cross, just over the road in fact – to St Pancras, one of my favourite stations.

Here’s the statue of Sir John with the latest art installation in the background, this one’s from Tracy Emin. As I was here I thought I should pop into the newly refurbished bar which carries the great man’s name. The Betjeman Bar has undergone its 3rd incarnation since it opened in 2007. Thus time the changes are more cosmetic and less profound. The bar’s stayed in place. Most of the work appears to be confined to tiling areas such as the one opposite the bar, repainting and redecorating. It does look rather smart.

I wandered on down the road to Euston to check out what’s going on with Hs2 building work. As usual, there’s constant change! Footpaths have been moved to allow construction of the temporary taxi rank

Here’s the diverted footpath which cuts along the edge of Euston Sq gardens, forming 2 sides of the square. I might add 30-45 seconds to the journey from Euston to Euston Sq tube but I’ve already seen someone grumbling about the ‘inconvenience’ on Twitter!

With the weather remaining gloomy and cold I decided to head over to nearby Drummond St (a mini Indian quarter full of great places to eat) to sit and have a meal at an old haunt – Ravi Shankar, an Indian vegetarian restaurant I’ve been frequenting for nearly 30 years. As it was ‘early doors’ the place was very quiet with just a handful of customers. As is often the case, none of them were local – all were from outside of London. Next to me were two Doctors from the Midlands who’d been on a course at UCH. Besides them were a couple of friends who’d also popped in to eat before catching their train – from Paddington! I couldn’t help cracking a wry smile at this because local anti Hs2 campaigners had made a great fuss about how Drummond St would suffer at the hands of the project, yet it’s clear an expanded Euston station will bring in more business, not less – and it’s not the locals who’re frequenting the place that much anyway. I saw this when the nearby pub the Bree Louise, closed a couple of months ago. Yes, there were some locals in there on the final night, but all those who moan about Hs2 on a regular basis were noticeable by their absence. A few months later there was a minor Twitter furore when a Journalist mentioned the pub had closed. The replies made it obvious none of those who were outraged at the news were regular drinkers at the pub. Funny old world…Anyways, I had a delicious Chana Masala with a couple of chapattis at Ravi’s and enjoyed a few moments to reflect on past times…

Oh, and admire the stunning wisteria display on the building across the road…

19:29.

Sadly, the weather’s never picked up so I’ve found myself caught in Euston’s gravitational pull. Having explored (on a full stomach) I’ve visited another old haunt, the ‘Doric Arch’ pub in Euston station. I’ve not been in here for years as other watering holes like the Bree Louise and Euston Tap took precedence, but the Doric (the former Head of Steam) used to be somewhere where I’d often arrange to meet friends when I still lived in London. Despite it being taken over by Fullers and seeing prices hiked as a result its still a busy place. The old railway memorabilia’s been preserved, so – although it’s been spruced up it really doesn’t feel that different. What has changed is the range of drinks, like most places they’ve added craft beers. The Doric shares something in common with a lot of railway station bars, it’s a popular location for ‘secret assignations’. You could often spot couples who weren’t married to each other. They may have met through work (or on the train) but there they’d be, having a smooch before going home to their respective partners! Not that I’m levelling any accusations about anyone in this picture, obviously…

Meanwhile, one thing that I’ve always cast envious eyes at is the huge model of a BR Class 9F that sits atop the bar. I’m glad to see that it’s still here.

Right, it’s time to head off. I’m staying with old friends in South London, so it’s off to the Victoria line I go…

I’m expecting to have some interesting stuff to blog about this next week as there’s quite a bit of variety in my calendar. Tomorrow I head back to London in readiness for Infrarail, the 3 day railway trade show which is being held at ExCel in London’s docklands. I’ll be there for the opening but then I’ve got to hot-foot it over to London City airport in the afternoon as I’m on a press trip with Siemens to Dusseldorf, a group of us will be visiting their Krefeld plant to see the new Class 717 trains under construction. These trains will be replacing the vintage BR built Class 313’s operating services out of Moorgate and Kings Cross stations in London. After visiting the factory we’ll transfer to the test track at Wildenrath where we’ll have the opportunity to drive one of the new trains, so watch out for pictures on my Twitter account @paulbigland1 and website as well as keeping an eye out for the new blog.

Later that day we’ll be flying back to London, giving me the opportunity to spend a full final day at Infrarail before I head back up to Yorkshire.

There’ll be more variety later in May as I’m off to New York for a week. We’re going to celebrate my wife’s 50th birthday and meet up with some of her family, but I’ve arranged a bit of time to explore, so expect pictures of the New York subway as well as general cityscapes. I was last in the states in 2007, the camera technology’s changed a bit since then, so I’m looking forward to seeing what I can capture. By the way, here’s a link to the 2007 rail images.

I consider myself fortunate to have an extensive photo archive because, whilst the memory may fade as I get older, the photographs don’t. They’ll always be there to transport me back in time and allow me to relive my past – and to reflect on how much things have changed. Here’s one example…

I’ve known London’s St Pancras station ever since the early 1970’s and I’ve been a regular visitor since. It’s hard to credit now but at one time this magnificent building with its fantastic Gothic frontage was threatened with demolition. Luckily, sanity prevailed and it was saved. I remember it in its BR days when it was run-down and shabby, All the long-distance services had been withdrawn so it was often quiet with little activity compared to other London termini. As all trains were diesel operated it could be a noisy, dirty place and glorious arched roof, whilst offering maximum protection from the elements offered little in the way of natural light. Here’s a shot taken in 1991 when the local services to Bedford had already been electrified and diverted via the Thameslink tunnels.

On the far left you can see a parcels van stabled in one of the centre roads. This would have been part of a travelling Post Office set that sat here during the day before being used overnight. The HST sets had taken over from the earlier ‘Peak’ Class diesel locos to run the remaining long distance services to Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield. The Class 56 was sat here as St Pancras was a traincrew depot and BR drivers were still passed out to work both passenger and freight trains. The old taxi rank to the left was deserted in those days. The only time it sprang to life was in the evenings when it would be full of Royal Mail vans delivering sacks of letters to the various mail trains which left the station each night, adding welcome life to what was a sadly underused station. Here’s an October 1993 shot of the Travelling Post Office train which was always stabled in ‘siding A’ during the day before coming to life in the evening. I can’t remember where this used to run to now, maybe others do?

Now we move on a few years – to April 2002…

Here’s a post-privatisation scene when services were run by Midland Mainline who took over BR services in 1996. Class 170 Turbostars had been introduced in 1999 to run the stopping services to Leicester freeing up HSTs for other work. They didn’t last long as they were transferred to Central Trains in 2004 after being displaced themselves by the arrival of the Class 222 ‘Meridian’ fleet. The station was looking sadly neglected at this point, but appearances can be deceptive, as you’d have noticed if you’d turned around from this view. The station was being prepared for its new role as an international terminus…

This view taken a few months later in October 2002 shows the new Eastern train shed being built outside the Barlow roof . The whole area was one massive building site that was constantly changing. I was very lucky to get to visit the Hs1 construction sites on a regular basis as I was documenting the project for RAIL magazine. If you want to see more of the photos of HS1 being built, visit this gallery on my Zenfolio website.

At the same the new platforms and trainshed were under construction, work was going on at the front of the station to extend the London Underground ticket offices and concourse on Kings Cross St Pancras tube station. This entailed completely removing the ramp at the front of the station building the new entrances to the tube station, then rebuilding the ramp.

On 8th April 2004, shortly before the Barlow train shed was closed for conversion to the new Eurostar terminus, there was a last ‘Peak’ at St Pancras when 45112worked a special train to Derby and back.

Between the Thameslink line was severed in order to allow construction of the ‘Thameslink box’ (which would later house the new Thameslink station. This meant that Thameslink trains from the North terminated in the new East side platforms which would later be used by the high-speed ‘Javelin’ service into Kent. Here’s the first of the class, 319001 in Connex livery and 319450 in Thameslink livery on the 29th October 2004.

Finally after years of being a building site, St Pancras was reopened as an international station by Queen Elizabeth 2nd on the 6th November 2007. It remains one of my favorite stations. The transformation was a superb job by all concerned. The station went from a dingy, decaying, underused space to a destination in it’s own right. Compare some of the early photos to these…

It’s sometimes easy to forget just how much of our railway heritage has been transformed since privatisation. First St Pancras, then Kings Cross next door. Now things have moved on up the road to Euston, which is to be completely rebuilt as the London terminus of High Speed 2. I look forward to documenting that fantastic project too…

I’ve been scanning more old slides today. There’s an ecletic mix which includes royalty, personal shots going back 20 odd years, travel images and also railway shots. Two of the rail shots caught my eye as they sum up how much has changed since they were taken in 2001. Not just on the railways, but also across London. Neither of these shots are possible now.

Here’s the first example. A Waterloo to Paris Eurostar (set 3211) passes Vauxhall on the 25th January 2001 with the Houses of Parliament providing a historic backdrop.

There’s two reasons why this is a historical shot nowadays, although only one is probably immediately obvious (to railway enthusiasts at least). In 2007 Eurostars stopped using Waterloo and the ‘classic’ line through South London because the service was transferred to St Pancras International. The second reason’s because new building has blocked off the view of Parliament. London’s booming housing market has meant that a row of apartments now occupy the land next to the railway.

Here’s another historic view from the same year, taken a month later on the 25th February 2001. One of the (then) brand new Gatwick Express units (460004) leaves London’s Victoria station with the 15:00 service to Gatwick Airport.

Both railway enthusiasts and London commuters will get this one but probably for different reasons. The Alstom built Class 460s are already history, having been withdrawn by 2012 to be converted into the Class 458/5’s. OK, the old slam door train behind it has gone too – but the biggest change in this scene is the iconic view of the old Battersea Power station. The area’s now part of a massive housing redevelopment which has hemmed in the power station and closed off the view.

I consider myself fortunate that I lived in London for so long and managed to capture shots like this. As the old Joni Mitchell song lyric says, ‘you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’…

07:35
Expect today’s blog to unfold over the day as things happen. I’m currently on a fully booked Grand Central service (even 1st Class has no seats left) from Halifax to London for a days photograph around the capital. Fortunately (thanks to the crew) I’ve managed to secure a seat as I’ve an article to write and pictures to edit before I hit the capital.

It’s a beautiful morning here in Yorkshire so my mile and a half, thirty minute walk to the station was a pleasure rather than a chore – and the Yorkshire stone pavements and cobbled streets were quaint rather than being the death trap they can turn into in icy weather!

I’m going to keep this blog updated with thoughts and experiences throughout the day as and when they happen – and time permits. Let’s see what happens…

10:08.

A productive morning so far. One 1000 word article written, pix edited and to cap it all, the weather’s picking up. We’re about to pull into Kings Cross now…

12:36

Thanks to some Facebook friends who work on the railways I received updated information on which services the re-liveried South Western Railway trains were working. This gave me time to saunter over to Euston and check out progress on the HS2 work there. Workers were busy levelling the Western side of Euston Gardens to create the temporary taxi rank to replace the underground one which will close to allow demolition of the area.

From Euston I caught to tube to Waterloo and awaited my quarry to arrive in the shape of Desiro 450111 which was (allegedly) working the 10.24 Portsmouth to Waterloo. I filled my time sending pictures to accompany the article I’d written earlier, via the rather glacial station wifi – although to be fair – the file sizes I’m sending aren’t exactly small! I needn’t have worried as a check on ‘RealTime Trains’ showed me that 2P34 was running an hour late! It seems the signalling on the SWML is having another of its regular hissy fits. Still, it gives me time to update this…

14:40.

Ever had on of those days? When the train I’d been waiting for finally turned up it seemed there had been a unit swap and the sole re-liveried Class 450 I’d been waiting for wasn’t working it! Muttering under my breath, I abandoned Waterloo and headed down to Clapham Junction to make the most of the good weather instead. I’m here now and this is how it looks…

Hello, goodbye. Some of the recently introduced Siemens Class 707s which are going to be displaced as part of the new franchises massive new fleet order.

Old train – new skyline. The constantly changing face of London’s evident behind a BR Class 456 – another of the units which is due to be displaced and go off lease in the near future.

I’ve another bite of the cherry this evening when a pair of re-liveried DMUs are meant to be working the 17:52 Waterloo – Salisbury. Let’s hope I have more luck this time…

As luck would have it an old friend (Steve Upton) who drives for SWR got in touch and we had time for a coffee at Waterloo before he took his first train out. I used it to get back to Clapham where I exploited the dying rays of the sun and the London skyline to frame a few more pictures as I waited to see if the train I was stalking would turn up.

Thumbs up from the driver!

Finally – after numerous false starts and hours of waiting, one of the re-liveried trains (in this case a Class 158) passed through en-route to Waterloo, but fate had the last laugh. The damned thing was sandwiched in-between two units in the old SWT livery! I chased it back to Waterloo where I got my first look at the new colours.

Sorry guys and gals, but to say your livery choice is underwhelming is an understatement. I’m sure you’ve spent a lot of money on coming up with something that sets you apart from the previous incumbent. The problem is that SWT had vibrant liveries, blocks of colour that stood out in the landscape and also set apart their suburban services from long-distance. What have you come up with? Several shades of dull. The idea of barely distinguishable narrow stripes may have looked good on the drawings. The problem is that – when your train flashes past at speed, no-one will even notice them. From a marketing perspective it’s akin to a new Puritanism. You’ve taken all the fun out of things. Is this really the image that you wanted to project? OK, at the end of the day, liveries are just coats of paint (or, in your case, vinyl) that do nothing to enhance punctuality or reliability. But they still convey a message. So, what was the message you thought you were conveying, ‘cos fun – it ain’t.

UPDATE: 22nd March.

OK, livery rant and day in London over, it’s time to move on to other things. Expect another blog later today when I’m back on familiar territory and I’ve crunched the final numbers on the Stop Hs2 petition which finally ran out of time yesterday. Did it reach 100,000? Did it heck as like…

Despite having plenty to blog about the one thing I haven’t had is time. I’m 2/3 through my commission in private residential old people’s homes in North London and it’s absorbed nearly all my time, but here’s a quick update.

As expected, it’s been a fascinating couple of days. The staff at the two homes I’ve visited have been inspiring. The level of care and attention they give to residents (who all have different needs and levels of support) is bloody hard work. It’s not a job for the casual or the faint-hearted. I’ve also met some lovely residents and heard their stories. The whole experience has been uplifting – if sometimes sad when you see the ravages of dementia on people who obviously shone before the onset of such a cruel disease.

I’ve also reacquainted myself with commuting across London by public transport. It’s not something have had to do for a long time. When I lived in North London but worked in the East my daily commute was by bicycle. It was the same when I did relief shifts on newspapers based at Canary Wharf. Once I turned to photography my commute was never normally to the same place more than two days in a row.

Since those days London’s population’s grown – as has the number of people commuting in. Today I was using Thameslink services from Herne Hill to Kentish Town & expecting that the new 8-car Siemens Class 700s might have provided a bit of breathing space compared to the Class 319s they’d replaced. Not a bit of it. The trains were rammed – despite all the extra space they provide. It was like being on the tube! It was the same with 12 car trains I saw passing through. Now, these trains are people movers. The 8 cars can carry 1146 and the 12’s take 1754 souls. If they’re already full it’s clear the full 24tph timetable through the Thameslink core can’t come soon enough…

Despite the fact this thing’s a real people-mover and there’s several an hour, I had to flag the first two as I just couldn’t squeeze on. This was 3rd time lucky.